The Problem with Android
 

Fragmentation.

Android 5.0 Currently Runs On Fewer Than 0.1% Of Handsets

Google?s recently released Android 5.0 mobile operating system is currently running on fewer than 0.1 percent of handsets, according to data released by the company. The new software, code-named ?Lollipop,? was made generally available November 12. Carriers are currently rolling Lollipop out to consumers, according to their own schedule.

The limited uptake of Android?s fifth version so far underscores a wider problem in the mobile world: Fragmentation. It took Windows Phone 8.1, for example, nearly half a year to make it to the 50 percent market share mark. And as Wired notes, Apple is seeing slower adoption of its new iOS 8 than some expected.

Current reports indicate that Lollipop is seeing increasing over-the-air updates, which could quickly push its market share numbers higher. Google was not immediately available to comment on the current Lollipop figures.

However, even if Lollipop manages to grow its share of the Android install base through the end of the year, it will likely face an adoption ceiling. Currently, the most popular version of Android is KitKat, or Android 4.4. It commands 33.9 percent market share. There are six versions of Android at current tip that have more than 7 percent market share, for reference. Given that, it seems doubtful that Lollipop itself will do much better than the 30 percent mark, unless something in its ecosystem changes.

Looking backwards, we can compare the current rollout of Lollipop to the KitKat release. The first time KitKat hit the charts, it had 0.01 percent market share. The next month, that tally inched up to 1.11 percent. The next month, 2.94 percent. So the initial incline can be shallow for new Android builds.

Operating system fragmentation makes the work of developers more difficult. If the install base of phones that you?re building for not only have a wide array of screen sizes, but also firmware, building an app that will work for the majority of users can be difficult. This applies to all three platforms, of course.

Much more drastic fragmentation among Android than iOS.

It's like the windows XP problem.
As a side job I dispatch out and fix iDevices on the side. There are now 6 generations of iPads and the 2 is double the repair percentages of all the other iPads.
It's good enough, even though it doesn't have a retina display.

Android is multi version platfrom, lots of android2.x phones still around, even kitkat is not big number, android 5 will get on new phones, on old not so much

well, it takes time for each carrier to load a shitton f bloatware and their silly overlay onto android, then send it out to all the umpteen different devices after they have to make specific code changes to all that nonsense for each specifc model, if they even roll it out.

not to mention google just keeps cranking out new android versions........

Here are some stats on what gets repaired device wise, this is from thousands of repairs across the United States and some other countries.

http://i.imgur.com/nOUUfbn.png
http://i.imgur.com/eSqavNx.png
http://i.imgur.com/ciVbaFo.png
http://i.imgur.com/CtIvkz5.png
http://i.imgur.com/d1x6Jl4.png
http://i.imgur.com/YOH6qAp.png

Galaxy Note looks like winner, same as apple first generation of products

i am supposed to receive 5.0 within the next weeks but my Samsung Note 2 for example is still on Android 4.1 and i dont think it will ever update again. Pretty sad actually from Samsung

on the other hand: early iphones/ipads also cannot update anymore due to the lack of storage capacity

My point for posting those stats is to show device fragmentation.

Generations cycle very fast, should be an interesting landscape in the next 3-4 years, I wonder how small the device percentages will get and how fragmented.

The iPad 2 still updates to iOS 8 as far as I know. Apple has done a good job of keeping things current, of course they have made some design flaws in their devices.
It's more processing power than memory, but the newer devices are starting to get powerful enough that it's inexcusable not to make the OS run smoothly on them, unless it's rigged to influence a generation upgrade.

I like Apple but am not a zealot.

I thought that Google had attempted to reign all that in and keep things more consistent across all platforms, no?

I've got it running on the G3 and I really like the most recent update. It's a shame that very few people get to use it at this point.

I would imagine that CyanogenMod is available for the Note 2. The ability to change up the ROM on your device is Android "killer app" for me. Oddly, I don't believe that the Android phone I own can actually be root yet.

The thing I dont like about android is the lack of control.

can you give me an example?

I updated my Nexus7 to Lollipop and it lags. I'm switching it back to Kitkat when I get a chance.

This was the original reason Google released the Nexus phone and tablet line, so there would be phones out there with the latest OS. That was a major complaint by Google is the major android phone makers were taking too long to update the OS's. Nexus was ment to put a little competition in the mix to encourage the other phone makers to speed up their releases.

One of the reasons I went for the Nexus 7 - I hate not having the latest of anything...

I've had it for a few weeks (lollypop), well worth the upgrade.....

Of course now I have to splash out for a Nexus 9...